Arcadia University Graduate Certificate in Out-of-School Time Education

University Training for the Afterschool Field

As afterschool education becomes increasingly professionalized throughout the country, Foundations is leading the way—ensuring our nation’s children and youth reap the rewards.

One prime example is our partnership with Arcadia University.  Through Arcadia, a private university outside Philadelphia, Foundations offers a Graduate Certificate in Out-of-School Time Education. This flexible, highly accessible program blends face-to-face and online coursework.

Afterschool educators start with an interactive and highly practical three-day Institute on Arcadia’s campus, followed by three online courses from any location they choose. Courses are selected based on the goals and needs of individual sites.

By offering the certificate primarily online rather than requiring on-site enrollment, afterschool staff can boost their training and skills at their own pace, on their own schedules.

Through the program, they:

• Learn the history, current research and trends of afterschool education
• Get a solid grounding in the cognitive and social development of children and adolescents
• Learn to design and implement effective programming.

For the final course, with guidance from an advisor, afterschool educators put theory into practice with a culminating applied learning project.

Since the certificate program’s launch in 2008, students from more than a dozen states have participated. Undergraduate credit is now available for the Institute and program leaders are considering expansion to an undergraduate certificate.

For more information, please visit the website of Foundations' Center for Afterschool Education.